1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device dedicated for use as a teaching aid and capable of operation by a student requiring instruction and practice in reading.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, various devices have been devised for use in aiding students to learn to read and to improve their reading ability. For example, printed learning aids have been devised which display certain words in a predetermined sequence and which allow a student to respond to a common grammatical question posed with respect to all of these words. That is, a student may be required to provide a written response identifying all misspelled words, all nouns, all words with soft consonants, and so forth. The simplest form of devices of this type is a booklet presenting the words and questions in printed form, although more sophisticated devices are also available.
Other more dynamic teaching aids have also been used, but with only limited success. One class of such machines employees a multiplicity of cards imprinted with magnetic ink. The cards are inserted into a decoder which provides an audio output pronunciating a particular word and contemporaneously displaying the printed form of the word. Such devices operate by propelling the magnetic ink section of the card past magnetic read heads which decode the imprintation to produce an audio output. The student thereafter pronounces the word orally. A microphone picks up this oral response and records it. The student can then compare the response with the oral sample pronunciation. The problem, however, particularly with young children is that with such devices the student is in effect, required to select his own problem and then solve it. Unless supervised, children tend to choose easy problems, with which they quickly become bored. They then tend to abandon the task with little attention to the problems at the level of difficulty in which they really require instruction.